Life After Death/Original/Chapter 2
It was a very dark and cloudy night. Inside a house, a man and a woman sat on a couch, staring at an old, brick fireplace. There was a rusty screen in front of the fire, to keep the flames from burning the house down. The fire was small, but just big enough that the people could see each others faces. "Pete?" asked the woman. She was a very small, timid girl, with long, black hair, and she wore a pair of glasses. "Yes, Tina?" the man asked in reply. He was a taller, wider, darker-skinned man. He had very short, black hair, and had a very slim face, and a slight beard. "Where are mom and dad? They said they'd be here at seven to pick me up. It's already quarter to eight." "I don't know. Just wait." The two sat in silence for several more minutes, before Tina got up and went to the washroom. Pete turned, and stared out a small, open window to his right. He zoned out for a moment, before he heard a buzz from his pocket. Pete pulled out his phone, and saw he had a text from his mom. It said: "Hi, sweetie. We are going to have to stay here for the night. The police are out front and are keeping everyone inside their homes. Your father talked to an officer, and he said that someone was killed outside, and they are investigating it right now. Looks like Tina is gonna have to spend one more night with you. Sorry! ''-Mom'' PS Don't worry about us, we'll be fine!" Just then, Tina emerged from the hallway, and saw Pete on his phone. "Who's that?" she asked him. Pete hesitated to speak for a few seconds. "It was, uh, mom," he finally admitted. "She said she and dad are going to wait until tomorrow to come pick you up." "Why?" "I don't know, she didn't say. She just said that she will be here tomorrow, and that she misses you." '' ''Tina scoffed at this, and walked back down the hallway, into the spare bedroom, and shut the door. ---- "Oh, fuck!" Bill shouted. Standing several dozen feet in front of them, at the bottom of a hill, was a giant hoard of zombies. The zombies were drawn to the two men in the truck, and immediately starting stampeding towards them. "What the hell are we supposed to do!?" Devon screamed at Bill. "Look at that over there!" Bill pointed off to the right. There laid a small, gated off neighbourhood surrounded by a dense forest. Bill spun the wheel of the truck, and slammed on the gas. He rammed into a zombie, spraying its guts all over the window. Bill tried using the windshield wipers, but they didn't work. After several long, agonizing moments, the truck slammed into an iron gate, knocking it open. Bill, whose leg was in severe pain from the impact, opened his door, and jumped out, falling over. Devon tried to get his open, but it had been damaged too much to be able to open. Bill pulled out his pistol and started shooting the zombies that were approaching them. He ran out of ammo, and turned to the truck. "Come on!" Bill called out to Devon. Bill darted through the gate and into the complex, while Devon climbed over the driver side to get out. It took a few seconds of struggling, but he managed to get out. He quickly opened up the back door of the truck, and yanked out his duffel bag. He turned around and ran into through the gate, after Bill. "Bill!" Devon called out, as he could not find him anywhere. "Where are you?!" Devon ran down a road, and came to an intersection between houses. He looked to both sides, but still could not find Bill. He was panicking, thinking he was lost, when suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure to his right, at the end of the road. He chased after it, as it started stumbling towards something. Bill stood in front of a large house. He looked all around the street, and saw no cars. He figured everyone left for the evacuation, and walked up the sidewalk to the house. He turned the knob, but the door didn't open. He tried kicking the door a few times, but it still wouldn't budge. He stood there for a moment, then backed up, and ran towards the door, and slammed the side of his body as hard as he could, knocking the door down. He got up, and went outside to see if he could find Devon. He saw a figure in the distance, and started walking towards it. As he got closer, he realized that it was not Devon, and that it was a zombie. He reached for his gun, aimed it at the zombies head, and pulled the trigger, but it didn't shoot. He realized that in the heat of the moment he forgot his gun was empty. The zombie lunged at Bill, pushing him up against a fence. Bill tried as hard as he could to keep the zombie away, but it was relentless. It was also a lot larger than Bill was. It was only inches away from biting him, and he could feel his arms weakening. "Ahhh!" Bill screamed as the zombie pushed itself even closer. It was now only cenitmetres from biting his neck. He was ready to give up, when all of a sudden, he heard a gunshot, and blood sprayed all over his face. The zombie fell dead to the ground. Bill stared at it for a moment, before snapping back into reality. He looked to his right, and saw Devon, holding a pistol. "Where the fuck did you get that gun?" Bill said, as he stumbled towards Devon. "I found it by James' body," admitted Devon. Bill stared at him for a few seconds, panting. "Thanks." Bill pointed back to the house he had found. "Looks like we got a place to stay until we can get back on the highway." The two men ran into the house, and Bill picked up the door and placed it in the door frame. "Good enough," he said, as he pulled a chair from the living room and placed it in front of the door. Later that night, the two men sat in front of an old, brick fireplace. There was a small fire burning, barely giving off any light. It was a very cold night, as if it were late autumn, but the fire brought warmth. "I know you didn't know James that well," Bill started talking, quietly. "But you should be glad you didn't." Devon looked at Bill in surprise. "He was a fuckin' asshole. Fifth grade, his math teacher flunked him. Next day, arrested for shooting her in the head. He went to court a month later, and convinced the jury that he was messing around with his dad's gun and accidentally fired. He was let free. Next damn day, he comes to me, bragging about how he killed his teacher and got away with it. It felt good to put a bullet in that fucker's head." There was silence for a few minutes. "I didn't tell you this," Devon replied. "But, when we were at James', I saw a guy and a girl in front of a house, dead. The girl had...her guts ripped out, all over her lawn. The man was gray, too, like James. He's probably the zombie that bit James...he must have been eating the girl." Bill stared at Devon, with a look of shock. The two men went silent, and continued watching the fire. They had found a couple boxes of crackers in the kitchen cupboards, and were eating them. WHAM. The two men turned around, to see a chair laying upside down on the ground, and the front door on top of it. Two people stood there. One male, one female. The man was holding a knife out. "What the hell are you doing in my house!?" The man yelled. Bill stood up, and pulled out his gun, which he had reloaded earlier in the day. "Your house?" Bill mocked. "This is our house now. You two left, and we moved in. We ain't leavin'." "Yeah, my house. Me and my sister went to the city to get as much food as we could, we come back, find a truck crashed into the front gate, and you in our house. Get out!" "You really want to fight about this? I'm holding a fucking gun to your head, and you are demanding I leave? Devon, you see this?" "Bill, put the gun down," Devon demanded. "Nobody needs to get hurt here, it's just a...a...misunderstanding. We were trying to leave the city when we ran into a hoard of zombies. We ended up crashing into the gate and we needed a place to stay." "Yeah, well the zombies are gone, now," The man replied. "And there's plenty of other houses around here." "Pete," the woman said. "They have guns, we have supplies. Maybe we could help each other out?" "Tina," Pete replied, slowly shaking his head. "Why not?" Devon questioned. "It would be better than killing each other." "You break into my house, point a gun at my head, and expect me to do what you say?" "Pete." Tina pestered. "We can't survive ourselves, just the two of us. Especially not without guns." "Alright," Pete said moments later, giving in. "As long as you leave that fucking gun out of my face." "As long as you share your food," Bill said, putting his gun away. Devon gave him a glare, which Bill smirked at. The group all sat down on the living room in front of the fire. Pete and Tina set their supplies beside Devon's bag, and pulled out two can's of soup. "Tina, could you go start the water?" Pete asked his sister. "I'll be in there in a few minutes to put the soup in." "'Kay," Tina replied, as she stood up and walked into the kitchen. "That girl is strong. A few days ago, I got a message from our mom. She said there was someone killed outside their house and the police were keeping them in lockdown. We didn't hear from her for a few days, so we went down and checked in. They weren't there. They just...vanished. I don't want to tell Tina this, but I think they turned." "That's rough," Devon said. Devon and Bill stayed quiet, as Tina returned to the living room. "Water's on, Pete," she told him. "Thanks," Pete replied with a smile. Tina sat down beside Pete and he put his arm around her. A few minutes later he got up, and went to put the soup in the water, holding his hand on his knife. He was keeping an eye on Bill and Devon, as he didn't trust the two. That night, the four of them had chicken-noodle soup. They had some brief discussions about what their life was like before the apocalypse, and eventually, they all went to bed for the night. ---- One month later. ---- Pete sat in a running car in front of a grocery store in the city. Bill stood outside, armed with a pistol, while Devon and Tina were inside, grabbing supplied. Tina grabbed a can of food. "No," Devon said to her. "We're getting the suff that expires sooner first. Leave the canned goods for later." Tina put the can back down, and they continued grabbing supplies. Outside, Bill saw a group of zombies in the distance, and shouted. "Dev, Tina, hurry up! We got some zombies!" Devon and Tina rushed to get out of the store. As they left, they continued grabbing supplies off the shelf. By the time they got out, there were a few dozen zombies only feet away from Pete's car. Devon and Tina got in the car, while Bill fired a few shots. Devon screamed for Bill to get in, but he waited a few seconds. Finally, just as the zombies reached the car, he jumped in the back seat. "What the hell were you doing!?" Devon asked Bill. Bill looked at him and smirked, but didn't reply. Pete put the car in reverse, and backed up. He hit something, and they realized there were zombies all around them. Pete spun the wheel to the right, where there was a small clearing, and hit the gas. He drove towards a tall fence, behind the store, and stopped the car. "Get out!" he yelled. On the other side of them, the zombies got closer. Devon was the first to jump the fence, and Bill tossed his duffel bag with supplies over to him. Bill and Pete respectively hopped the fence, as well. Tina tried, but she couldn't. "Come on Tina!" Pete screamed. "Climb the fence!" "I can't!" she yelled in reply. "It's too tall." "Just do it! The zombies are right behind you!" Tina tried once more, but fell. As she got up, a zombie lunged on top of her, biting her waist. "NOOOO!" Pete yelled, running to the fence, crashing in to it. Tina screamed as the rest of the zombies piled on top of her, continuing to devour her. Pete cried, as he put his fingers through the fence, and touched Tina's now-limp hand. She was gone. "We have to go!" yelled Bill. "Now!" "I can't leave her," Pete barely managed to get out in the midst of his crying. "She'll...turn." He looked back at Devon and Bill, who both shook their heads. Pete turned back at Tina's corpse, and pulled out his knife. He stuck it through the fence, and lined it up with her eye. He hesitated for a few moments, then looked away, and stuck it through her eye. He pulled it out, and jumped up, not bearing to look at her again. They walked a little further into the city, but it started getting dark, so they decided to search some cars to see if any were open. They found a van in front of an apartment with the doors unlocked, and piled inside; Bill at the front, Devon in the middle, and Pete in the back, and went to sleep. The next morning, they all woke up and got out of the van. "Tina was a good girl," Bill said. "I'm sorry." They stood there for a while. "We need get this van running, so we can get back to Pete's house. Pete, can you hotwire?" "No..." Pete quietly said. "Damn it. Well, we'll find something, I'm sure." The three heard a click come from behind them, and turned around. There stood two men in front of the apartment, one of them pointing a pistol at them. Credits *Devon Brandt *Bill Rooney *Pete Rhode (First Appearance) *Tina Rhode (First Appearance) *Nick Shiman (First Appearance) *Zain Ralph (First Appearance) Deaths *Tina Rhode Category:Hippo